It has not a lot to do with the birds. I feed a group o of birds three times a day, with peanuts on my patio, the birds come right up to me. They are my friends. They live a very nice lifestyle.
The OBX birds fared better when folks would keep the critters at bay just by being around. When the barriers went up in the Hook. The Plover got jacked by the Foxes and Raccoons who then had to be targeted by the NPS. On the Northern OBX the most effective Plover nesting area was on the roof of Home Depot. When all the nesting birds are gone in the Winter, do they let you drive into the hook from the Point, course not, it is not about the birds.
It has to do with folks who want to imagine a wilderness area without people intruding on it.
The little Turtles after they hatch do have a problem with deep tire ruts and the Mama Turtle is less likely to come in and make a nest if people are around. But the Turtles folks put up little barriers so the young hatchlings can travel unimpeded by ruts, and there seems to be abundant space on Hatteras for the Turtles to flourish.
There is a beautiful spot called Fisherman's Island located on the Northern edge of the Chesapeake. Google up some aerials and you can see the fishing structure that this would be a Drum-Cobia hotspot just like the Point in Hatteras.
No one can fish Fisherman's Island or even walk on the beach there, it is closed off for the birds, supposedly, perhaps by some dickhead Politicos who can't throw a heaver.
So next time you see an Oystercatcher doing its little dance, you can either accept it, spend your life energy fighting forces greater than you, or pull out a scope sighted Anschutz .22 and solve the problem at least in your moment of time.
